DALLAS -- Although no official recovery timetable has been established, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Sunday that the club expects to be without star forward Dirk Nowitzki for at least two weeks after Nowitzki suffered a leg injury in the third quarter of Sunday's 88-81 loss to San Antonio.

NowitzkiA shellshocked Cuban walked out of American Airlines Center with two fingers aloft to reflect the initial two-week fears.

But Cuban stressed that the time frame is unofficial and can't be confirmed until Nowitzki's left ankle and knee are examined more thoroughly Monday.

Nowitzki crumpled to the floor and clutched his left leg in agony after attempting to block a shot by San Antonio's Ime Udoka. Nowitzki's leg appeared to fold awkwardly after Udoka's right leg came down on Nowitzki's as they landed.

Nowitzki started reaching for his ankle, then grabbed near his calf, slapping the floor in agony. He put a hand on his head, then didn't move while the team's orthopedist and athletic trainer worked on his lower leg. The arena was silent until Nowitzki sat up.

Nowitzki had 11 points and seven rebounds at the time, with San Antonio leading 56-54 and 3:18 left in the period.

In a statement released by the team, Nowitzki said: "I fell awkwardly and my left leg got caught underneath of me. I am going to get re-evaluated in the morning and I hope to have more information then."

The Mavericks' hope is that Nowitzki merely sustained damage to his left ankle -- an injury he historically recovers from as quickly as anyone in the league -- and avoided a knee injury.

Couldnt have happened to a least likable team, player and owner in my opinion. Hopefully this will help us secure a playoff spot even more.

I know it is never good to see a guy get hurt, but we HAVE to take advantage of this. They were having trouble enough with him, without him, they will tank. Maybe leap-frog them? We play them twice more, right?

like it was stated above, you hate to see anyone get hurt like that, but in the NBA no one feels sorry for injury-riddled teams, so we have to take advantage. It doesn't look good for Dirk here is the footage:

gogogadget wrote:houston had other weapons without yao. i dont think dallas does. kidd really isn't anything without a star around him. one game behind them? let's pass em

id believe that josh howard and jason terry will step up and do the scoring. this will also open up a spot for bass to be a big time rebounder. hopefully niether of those happen and we pass em up in the rankings.

"the victorious warrior wins first, and then goes to war; the defeated warrior goes to war first, and hopes to win."- The Art of War

from the clip, it looked like he was clutching his knee, which would be terrible news for the mavs...I feel for the guy, but like everyone says, it is an opportunity for the Ws. I could see a scenario where Phoenix takes 1, NO two, Lakers 3, and the Lakers face the Spurs, the Ws face NO and the Nuggets face the Suns...I just don't want to see a full strength Lakers, so hope spirs take them out..

To Live is A Value Judgment - Albert Camus
3 reasons for living: Jazz, Hoops and women

xbaywarrior wrote:I just hope they don't end up doing what the Rockets did. Lose Yao, go on 22 game winning streak. They only have 12 games left though but still, I'd rather have them go on a losing streak of course.

Only four of those 12 games are easy, tho (two against the Clips and two against the Sonics). And they have two games against us and another against Denver that should decide their playoff fate.